[shyam]

Originally Posted by twodayslate

Student bob = new Student();

So to get bob's student number what do you call? It can't be Student.getStudentNum();, is it Student.bob.getStudentNum();?

as icm9768 has rightly pointed out there is no bob's student number...if you want to store bob's student number you should store it in a member variable sorta like this

class Student {
  private static studentNum=0;
  private myNumber;
  public Student() {
    this.myNumber = studentNum++;
  }
  public static int getStudentNum() { 
    return studentNum; 
  }
  public int getNumber() {
    return myNumber;
  }
}

Student bob   = new Student(),
        dylan = new Student();

Student.getStudentNum(); // returns 2
bob.getNumber(); // gives 0
dylan.getNumber(); // gives 1